DISCLAIMER: everyone's skin is different. My opinions are just that; they are not cold, hard facts. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa, but I write these reviews to give you a detailed perspective before you go around spending your money everywhere.
Let me preface this by saying that natural is not always better. In fact, it can often be more unreliable than science and evidence-based skincare.
I saw an ad on Instagram about getting some samples for a particular skincare company that sells natural products, and all I had to do was pay $3.99 for shipping! I mean...I just had to get it. This brand seemed very reliable, and it appeared that they made sure that they didn't have any harmful ingredients and were natural and evidence-based. And considering that the full-sized products were costly, trying out these samples was a steal! I received the product in the mail; the packaging was so cute! It was personalized with my name, and I was absolutely obsessed! At one point, I realized I hadn't received a toner, so I emailed them about it, and I was absolutely blown away by their customer service. I asked them whether there was supposed to be a toner in the sample set because I hadn't received one. And without even having to ask, they sent me another complete sample set for free with the toner in it!
It took me a while before I started using the products because I was actually using
Curology at the time (I think), but when I finally did start using it, I had mixed feelings.
The cleanser was pretty good, although I wouldn't recommend using it alone. I would recommend double cleansing with it even if you're not wearing makeup because when I used a cotton pad to apply toner, there was definitely a lot of dirt still left on my face. It's a very gentle, clear gel cleanser that doesn't dry the skin out, and it's good. I would use it again. I'd probably give it a 7/10
The next thing was the
vitamin C serum. It had a light citrusy fragrance, which was okay. It was kind of like oil in its consistency, but it was pretty good. It did leave my face a little bit sticky, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed, and it didn't bother me too much because moisturizer would go over that anyway.
Now, the problem started with the
moisturizer and the
eye cream. The problem with natural products is that some batches turn out wrong when they're handmade. When I applied this moisturizer, first of all, it took
so long to rub in. And the more I rubbed it in, the more it literally started curdling on my face. It just wouldn't rub in, and it started leaving white streaks across my face to the point where I just didn't know what to do. It was a 4/10. The consistency and texture of the eye cream were the same as the moisturizer, but because I tapped my eye cream in like you're supposed to, there weren't any curdling issues, and it was alright. The eye cream had a slight lavender scent, which was very minimal and nothing too irritating. I loved the eye cream (6.5/10), but I was really disappointed in the moisturizer, and honestly, while using this first batch, my skin definitely broke out. I did consider that my skin might have been what specialists call purging, but this definitely didn't feel that way. My skin just felt gross and irritated, to be honest. I went to see if they had instructions on applying the moisturizer to see if I needed to do something differently and realized that the reviews were also very mixed. Some people loved it, and some people had issues and had to have another moisturizer shipped to them. I concluded then that maybe some batches just tended to have issues.
Another thing I must add is that the fact that this might be a smaller business and that they might hand pack their products, there was a little bit of a mistake in quantity. There was way more product in the eye cream sachet than there was in the moisturizer, which doesn't make sense at all since the amount of eye cream a person would use is minimal compared to moisturizer.
So, after I finished my first set of samples, I decided to take a break because I felt like my skin was so uncomfortable during the entire week that I was using it. I did have some pimples here and there, which is totally normal, but they were not going away; new ones kept popping up, and my skin just felt inflamed and irritated. So, I took a week's break and ended up using Edenbelle (which I will be posting about on the blog right after this post). I used that brand, and the change in my skin was almost instant. I woke up the following day, and my skin was significantly better; many of my spots had faded away, and my skin was glowing. The day after that, I decided to use
CeraVe products that I had won in a giveaway because Edenbelle does have lactic acid in it, so it's not really safe to use every single day in the beginning. I used CeraVe, and lo and behold, the rest of the spots faded! I was so happy and satisfied that, in fact, I was reluctant to use the second shipment of the samples that I had gotten because my skin was finally looking good again. But I knew I had to test it and see whether it was just not a good time for my skin, whether it was purging, or whether the products truly did not suit my skin. (because I am definitely not a partial or biased tester)
I opened up the next packet, and again, I was disappointed because it turned out that the packet that had the cleanser in it had never been sealed, so it must have all leaked out of the packaging, and because it had been sitting there for like a month, it had all dried up. I never noticed it because all I had looked for at the time was the toner. And I knew it was the company's fault and not mine or the shipping people's because it was apparent that the package had not been stamped shut and had just been kept open from one side. At this point, it was too late for me to do anything; I could have easily messaged them again, but honestly, I was so scared to start the second sample set, and I wasn't looking forward to using an entire third shipment of these products. I didn't want anything to go to waste. I was wishing at this point that I had used the toner with the first packet so I could have gotten the full experience of the line, but at least it gave me another chance to test the products with one of the variables switched out. I didn't start all the products all at once this time because I wanted to know which product was affecting my skin negatively and which product was doing a good job. Therefore, I added one product at a time, day by day.
The
rose water toner was one hundred percent a 10/10. It was the best thing I'd ever used because you know I love rose water, and you can never go wrong with 100% rose water. This time, the quantities of the actual product were portioned out better in the sachets; the moisturizer had more moisturizer, and the eye cream had less eye cream in it. The moisturizer was definitely better this time because it didn't curdle on my face the way it did the first time, but it was still very tough to apply. One thing I noticed with the moisturizer and the eye cream was that after applying it, my skin would feel a little bit dry and super tight and uncomfortable; it felt like I wasn't in my own skin, and it was a strange feeling.
When I was almost done with the products, I decided to look at the ingredient list to get a better idea of what the so-called natural ingredients consisted of. And lo and behold, I figured out what the problem was. I never thought to check the ingredients list of a brand that claims to be more natural-based and doesn't have any harmful ingredients in it, but smack in the middle of the ingredients list was alcohol. Not the different types of benzyl alcohol or Cetearyl alcohol or any of those. I'm talking straight-up alcohol, which is sometimes also labeled as alcohol denat, SD alcohol, ethanol, or ethyl alcohol. All of those are one and the same, and that explains so much. It is general knowledge, especially in the skincare industry, that alcohol is a drying ingredient so it now makes sense to me that as soon as I would apply the eye cream and the moisturizer, my skin would feel so tight and not in a good firming way. They claim it to be anti-aging, firming, and wrinkle-preventive, but how can alcohol, which is known to be such a damaging ingredient, do that? Many products, even good skincare products, do have alcohol in them, but for a company that claims to have highly safe, non-toxic formulas to have alcohol in their ingredients list, it makes me completely lose trust in them. It also made me understand why the texture of the lotion just was not good.
Overall, I might recommend the cleanser and serum and definitely recommend the rosewater toner, but nothing else. I loved the toner because it was rose water, which is such an excellent ingredient for your skin, scalp, hair, eyes, you name it. That has been consistent for me in these past few skincare trials. While using Curology, I used my own homemade rose water as a toner. Then I moved on to Luminance, which also had 100% organic rose water in their trio, and now Fleur and Bee has their rose water as well, so that is something I have kept consistent throughout my entire routine, and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, my skin was just not happy with Fleur and Bee, and these were not fun times in my skincare routine. It wasn't fun to apply or use, and I just didn't feel good in my skin. The self-care part of skincare was missing here for me. I would only recommend the cleanser if you're double cleansing because it is an overall good gel cleanser for a second cleanse, but I wouldn't use it alone because even if you're not wearing makeup, it does not remove all the dirt.
One positive thing about the brand is that its customer service is unbeatable. It is so on point, and I loved communicating with them; they were always so happy to accommodate my needs, and they were just so open and friendly. They really do care about their customers and don't want to disappoint them in any way. I truly wanted the products to work so badly. I had such high hopes, especially with the customer service I had received, the authenticity of the brand, and the cute personalized packaging. I was just so hopeful, and I was so disappointed with it. Especially with the price point they're selling it at. They even reached out multiple times on Instagram once they found out my cleanser had spilled out, which was so thoughtful of them.
I really hate to be the one to say that I didn't like it, but I didn't, and that's the truth. But as I've said before, I will say again that everyone's skin is different. Just because something didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you. I have linked all the products in this post, so if you're interested in doing your own research, I encourage you to check it out and see if this brand is exactly what you need!!
If you have any questions or would like more information than I've given, please leave it in the comments below; I would love to interact with you and hear what you say! ♥️
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